Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Demonstrate openness, inclusiveness, sensitivity, and respectful interaction with all people, and continually strive to account for and respect individual differences. Engage in and work to create more inclusive communities, schools, work places, collaborating teams, and agency partnerships to achieve greater fairness of outcomes. Develop cross-cultural awareness and the ability to navigate cultural differences. 

Assessing Your Level of Competency

Graduate School is a time to take advantage of the resources and people around you to understand your progress with this competency. Ask yourself the following questions to dive deep into your self-assessment:

• Have you respectfully participated in or led a discussion about a controversial issue in a class, with friends or among lab/group members?
• When have you made a conscious effort to understand another person's point of view?
• Can you identify and do you respect cultural differences and preferences among your peers?
• Have you viewed an issue about which you feel strongly from another person's viewpoint?
• Have you joined a group that connects you with peers who do not share all your same views?
• Have you accepted someone else's point of view and perspective in planning/organizing an event?
• Do you have friends from a background or culture different from yours?
• Does your research or scholarship take into account diverse populations?
• Have you attended an event from ISSA, CSLC, NDSID, CSC, NDI, or a similar office to learn about someone who enjoyed a different experience than you?

Building Your Level of Competency

Build on your level of this competency through the following:

• Attend, participate in a cultural activity different than what you've grown up with.
• Instead of responding with your view, ask the other person for more information about their viewpoint.
• We all have biases - we've grown up with them; identify yours. Take the Implicit Bias Test and discuss with a close friend or mentor. 
• Study or research abroad to understand how another country/culture views world events, addresses societal problems.
• Take a Center for Social Concerns class/experience that covers a topic that's uncomfortable for you.
• Engage in a club, group, or team that seeks to include, understand and/or integrate a broad variety of viewpoints, perspectives, and/or beliefs.
• Write a paper analyzing a belief or practice very different than your own.
• Gain fluency in writing, reading and communicating in a non-native language.
• Analyze where disparities correlate with inequitable access to resources - start with a local issue; expand to a global issue.
• Read books, listen to podcasts, attend seminars on the experience of underrepresented or marginalized peoples.

Communicate this Competency

There are many opportunities to communicate your experience with diversity, equity and inclusion to others; through your resume, cover letters, interviewing, 30-second professional introduction, networking, etc. Use the following statements as examples of how you might be able to articulate this competency:

• Organized a panel of speakers representing opposing viewpoints to promote constructive discussion and critical examination of immigration policy.
• Analyzed the math camp admission process and recommended inclusion of questions that would identify qualified applicants with financial need.
• Translated Arabic news media for daily briefing of the U.S. State Department Embassy staff in Amman, Jordan.
• Interviewed local migrant workers regarding labor conditions to provide a more complete overview to the mayor.
• Co-facilitated dialog session between 4 student organizations differently impacted by university policy.
• Expanded the study population in thesis research to increase diversity of demographics.

Career Ready Competency Tracking Tool

Download the Career Ready Competency Tracking Tool one time from the main Career Competencies webpage, and utilize one document to track the development of all your competencies.